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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123389">One Year Later</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohgirl2365/pseuds/ohgirl2365'>ohgirl2365</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>He’s got the world on a string [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Open Heart (Visual Novels)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Confessions, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Sex, Vacation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:20:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohgirl2365/pseuds/ohgirl2365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This series takes place one year after the Edenbrook Gala and the main focus is Ethan's proposal to Tyler, though it will have other little tidbits of information to fill the gap between the gala and present day. It will also include events after the proposal and continue on from there :) I also plan to make another series with detailed flashbacks to monumental moments in their relationship before the proposal. I hope you enjoy, this is my first work!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>He’s got the world on a string [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Paradise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone - I hope you enjoy this work! It is my first time publishing anything, so let me know what you think :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Tyler said with a grin as she slid her North Face backpack into the overhead bin on their flight to Miami.</p><p>“I mean, I am very spontaneous, but to pack a bag for a whole weekend on just one days notice?” She slides down and sits next to Ethan, who was already seated in the window seat beside her. “And you leave me with the middle seat?” She gently shoves his shoulder and gives him a playful look.</p><p>Ethan looks back at her with an equally playful look. <em>God, she’s the most beautiful woman to ever walk this earth. Even when she’s making fun of me</em>. “I will have you know, this minor inconvenience will be well worth your time. Remember, we have absolutely no plans, besides our one dinner out on Sunday night, and an intimate beach hut, with a king sized bed and a giant shower, all to ourselves. I think you can do the math on that one.” Ethan quips back at her.</p><p>Tyler smiles, the smile that Ethan loves where her smile spreads all across her lightly freckled cheeks, her green eyes close and her nose crinkles up, and then kisses him softly. She rests her forehead on his, opening her eyes and meeting his piercing blues, the ones that she swears can see straight into her soul. “I love you.” Those three words still make Ethan’s heart swell when she says them. Even a year after “officially” becoming a couple on the night of the Edenbrook fundraising gala. His eyes soften, as they always do when she says those three words, and responds “I love you more, Rookie.” Like Ethan’s, Tyler’s heart swells at these words, too - something about him still calling her “Rookie” gets her every time.</p><p>The stewardess comes over the intercom to give the usual pre-flight instructions. Tyler straightens up in her chair and buckles her seatbelt. Ethan does the same. He takes her hand, since he remembers her saying in one of their many countless late night conversations that takeoffs are the scariest part of a flight for her. If it were true, she did a good job of hiding it when they went to Miami that time for the Panacea conference. “Still scared of takeoff?” he quipped to Tyler. Tyler’s eyes close. “You remembered. Still am, unfortunately.”“Of course I do. I’ve remember everything meaningful that you tell me. Like, that you cannot stand Avocado Toast.” Tyler laughs. “Also still true. It’s so popular it makes me hate it. Nothing against avocados. Or toast.”</p><p>Ethan shakes his head and smiles as he reaches for the drink menu in the seatback pocket in front of him. “I’m almost scared to try their scotch. I don’t want to waste $15 for a glass of dishwater.” “Mr. Frugal Alcohol Snob has boarded the plane.” Tyler jokes and rolls her eyes. Ethan catches a stewardess walking down the aisle. “Could I get a scotch?” “As soon as we get to cruising altitude, sir.” She smiles warmly and proceeds down the aisle to check the overhead bins. This inconvenience, of course, makes Ethan grumble a few profanities under his breath.</p><p>The plane starts to taxi as Ethan holds Tyler’s hand a little tighter. As the wheels lift off the ground, Tyler’s stomach tightens. “Oh God” she moans. Ethan rubs his thumb across her hand reassuringly. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Just breathe.” His thumbs rub slower and firmer as Tyler looks like she could vomit at any second. They reach a steady altitude, and Tyler starts to relax. “Thank you for putting up with my childlike fear,” Tyler says to Ethan with a half-laugh. “I always feel ridiculous afterwards.” “Nonsense. It’s not childlike. It’s legitimate. And you handled it like a champ. I’m afraid of spiders, and you handed that much better than that one time when I found a spider in the shower.” He beams down at her. “Now where’s my scotch?”</p><p> </p><p>Several hours and a second connecting flight later, they arrive via taxi to their secluded beachside hut. Ethan gives the driver a $20 and thanks him as they slide out of the backseat. Tyler looks at the hut in awe. “It’s beautiful, Ethan. And I’m sure the inside is just as if not more. You did a good job picking it out, for a guy.” She giggles a little and saunters towards the door.</p><p>The sun is almost setting, making her silhouette shadowy. Ethan stares at her as she walks - the outline of her now frizzy red curls, her slim waist, her nice thick hips, and her long toned legs, all bathed in a golden orange color. His stomach drops and something catches in his throat. His eyes almost well up with tears. I<em>f only she knew how beautiful she truly is. She doesn’t have any clue. And she also has no clue that I’m going to be proposing to her in about 48 hours.</em> Ethan breaks away from his thoughts and grabs both his suitcase and Tyler’s backpack that she absentmindedly left behind from the sand.</p><p>He heads towards the door, which Tyler has already opened and is nowhere to be found. “Ethan, oh my God, you should see this shower! And this bed! And the view!” Her voices rings out through the empty hut. It would be like her to start exploring the minute she arrived. He sits the suitcase and backpack down on the couch and looks around. <em>Tyler was right. This place is pretty amazing. I did do a good job</em>.</p><p>He smiles to himself and heads to see the shower and bed for himself. He peeks into the bathroom first: a large open room with a jacuzzi tub for 2 in front of a large window with a water view, a large tiled walk-in shower also big enough for 2, two sinks, a bench, and a toilet. All of it an aqua and grey theme. Ethan looks into the bedroom to see a beautiful large bed with a white plush comforter, a tv, and a solid wall of windows with the same water view as the bathroom.</p><p>Tyler comes bouncing into the bedroom. Ethan smiles when he sees her. “You did a really good job on picking this place,” she says, approaching him. She looks deep into those piercing blues, almost seductively and gives him an innocent smile. “Thank you for bringing me here this weekend. I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend than alone with you, presumably mostly naked, in a secluded beach hut, for 72 hours straight.” “Anything for you, my love. It’s the perfect way to celebrate our one year anniversary, if you want to call it that. I count it much sooner, but I think the night of the gala is the perfect official beginning. The night of the gala was also one year and one month ago, making me fashionably late.” He smiles down at her, their difference in height apparent. “Mmmm, yes, the night of the gala. Was that over a year ago already?”</p><p>Tyler wraps her arms around his neck and Ethan leans down to kiss her. She leans back into it, her hips rocking back, the kiss electrifying her body like every single kiss that he gives her. She feels his tongue pressing ever so urgently on her lips, so she opens them to let him in and moves her hands to cup his stubbly face. Ethan lets out a small moan as his tongue starts to explore the inside of her mouth. After a minute, Ethan pauses. “My God, Tyler.” He says, almost breathlessly. “How can you still be making me feel this way after so long?”</p><p>“Perhaps because we were made for each other?” Tyler quips back without hesitating, with a mischievous look on her face. She knows all too well that Ethan never believed in soulmates before, let alone even meeting one person to ever even consider marrying. Always very cynical about love, somehow Tyler came around and changed his perspective altogether. He might not believe in “soulmates” (if he does, he is very coy about it), but he certainly believes that Tyler is the woman for him. That’s the reason he brought a 3-carat ring with him to the Bahamas. He believes it to be true more than anything in the universe.</p><p>Ethan gives her a half annoyed, half amused look and resumes kissing her. His kisses move down to her neck, then down the front of her chest. He moves his hands underneath her lacy bra to her supple breasts, the breasts that he knows so well it’s like they’re a part of his own body. He masterfully cups them and rubs them, sending a shock down Tyler’s spine. She lets out a small cry. “Take it off,” she manages to let those three words out of her mouth in the middle of her sudden ecstasy. Ethan first pulls the tank top over her head, watching as every inch of her skin is exposed, then reaches back behind her to expertly yet gingerly undo her bra. Tyler moves her hands forward so the bra slides down to the floor. Ethan gets on his knees, his hands resuming their masterful work on her breasts. He then moves his hands down to her stomach, grabbing her there and rubbing gently and moving his mouth back up to her seemingly magnetic breasts. His tongue expertly plays with her now aching nipples. Tyler reaches down to start to undo his button-down shirt. Off goes Ethan’s shirt.</p><p>Tyler now has an idea of her own. She pulls Ethan up of off his knees and pushes him against the nearest wall. He looks at her with intrigue etched on his face. She slowly unbuckles his belt and pulls his shorts down to the ground, leaving him with nothing but boxers on. She can see his need throbbing through them. She pushes those off to the floor with the shorts. She steps back, taking in his toned, naked body.</p><p>“Don’t move,” Tyler says almost forcefully. She turns her head to the side mischeivously and slides her skirt down to the floor. Ethan’s face is painted with desire, but he obeys her directions. Then she slips her thong off, leaving her completely naked. “Jesus Christ, Tyler” he moans. “You’re beautiful.” “Yeah?” Ethan closes his eyes. “You are torturing me right now.” “Want me to touch you?”</p><p>His eyes snap open and widen. “If you’re offering, then yes.”</p><p>“Maybe I’ll make you wait for it…”</p><p>“Tyler Auburn Bracken, you will not…”</p><p>She smiles and walks closer to him. “Okay, fine, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, I won’t make you wait this time.” With the word time, she forcefully pushes him back against the wall and places his member into her hand, rubbing it aggressively. Ethan lets out a string of obscenities. “I need you, Tyler...”</p><p>“How badly? Tell me how badly…”</p><p>Instead of telling her, he scoops her up, placing one arm under her knees and one behind her back. He kisses her as he takes her over to the plush king sized bed. He gently lays her down and takes a small step back to drink her body in, sprawled out on the white comforter. Her now messy red curls fan all around her head, cheeks flushed a light pink color, eyes fluttering open and shut, her whole body perfect. The golden sunset from earlier has been replaced by the very soft glow of the full moon outside. At that moment, he realized they did not close the curtains. But who cared? They were isolated and they were in love. Completely and thoroughly in love with each other.</p><p>Ethan’s need temporarily subsides as he stares at her in awe and, like before, his eyes start to well up with tears. “God, I love you, Tyler.” She beams from the bed. “I love you, Ethan.”</p><p>He lets his stare linger for a second more as she glows there before him, before he gently crawls on top of her, kissing her softly, intertwining his hands with hers. He’s hoping she didn’t feel a few stray tears fall from his eyes onto her body. Ethan then slowly enters Tyler, her entrance warm and wet and all-encompassing. <em>Home. He thinks. This is home. This is where I belong. This is where I’ve always belonged. This is what heaven must feel like. </em>He lets a loud groan at the thought and soaks her in fully as she involuntarily tightens around him. Meanwhile, Tyler feels his thick, throbbing member fill her to the brim, and she lets out a long soft moan. “Ethan…” she says softly. He doesn’t respond, too enthralled with the way she was making him feel in return. They move in sync with each other, neither of them saying a word, slow and steady after the sudden change of tone in the bedroom from dominant and urgent to romantic and tender. After a few minutes, they both reach their own frenzied climaxes and get lost in the ecstasy before Ethan rests his chest on top of Tyler’s aching breasts, still inside of her. They both breathe heavily for a minute, still not fully back down to earth, and he slowly removes himself from her and rolls onto his back.</p><p>They lay together in silence for a few minutes. Not an uncomfortable silence, but a familiar and welcomed silence. “Why were you crying?” Tyler manages to somehow roll over on her side in her post-orgasmic state, and looks at Ethan intently. He is still laying on his side.</p><p>“You saw that?”</p><p>“Well, no, I felt a few tears on my chest.”</p><p>Damn. Ethan lets out a small chuckle and turns over onto his side to meet her eyes. Her hair is now draped over her shoulders, cascading down over her bare shoulders onto the bed. He launches into his jumbled thoughts: “I was looking at you laying there on the bed, and I started thinking about how there isn’t a more beautiful creature on the entire planet than you, and how I still don’t understand to this day how you waited around for me to stop acting like an asshole and finally decide that I wanted to be with you. Both at first privately and then publicly. You didn’t deserve any of what I did to you, me letting you in only to shut you back out time and time again. I felt horrible doing it every time, but I kept telling myself it was for your benefit. What kind of fucked up logic is that? You clearly wanted to be with me, and I saw the pain in your eyes every time I would put a stop to what we had going. And after all that, here you are, in my arms in a tropical paradise after putting up with me for these past two and a half years, give or take. I know the past year was different, but still. I hope you know how truly sorry I am for all of that, Tyler. I know I’ve told you before, but this time it just hit me differently. How could I have treated someone who means the moon and the stars to me, like that? You are straight up an angel on earth, Tyler. I don’t think you realize that. And, thank you for sticking to your guns. I think you knew I was acting idiotic, and you knew that I would come around eventually. Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself. But that doesn’t make it any better. Because what if I hadn’t? Then you would have gone through all of that heartache for nothing. And I would probably be in the psych ward at Edenbrook because the guilt would have overcome me and I would have either gone into a depression or tried to harm myself. I’m not even kidding.”</p><p>With that, he stops talking and looks deeply into Tyler’s eyes, his remorse evident.</p><p>“Wow, Ramsey, you never fail to surprise me.” She reaches over and grabs his hand. “Look, all that matters, to me anyway, is that we are here together now. You’re right, though. I do know you better than you know yourself sometimes. Something told me that you didn’t really mean what you were doing so I tried my best to keep the pressure on you. I knew you wanted me, Ethan. It was all over your face. Even when you would abruptly stop kissing me in the throes of foreplay and say that we couldn’t do this anymore, and walk out of my apartment like nothing happened. We’re diagnosticians, for God’s sake. We read every clue that is presented to us. And besides, you haven’t acted like a jackass since then, generally speaking. So don’t beat yourself up.”</p><p>She laughs and grabs his face with her hands. “I love you, Ethan Jonah.” Tyler called Ethan this one day in the beginning of their relationship, and it has stuck since then. He laughed and thought it was weird, but now it’s his favorite thing to hear. “No matter what you think you put me through. Please don’t ever forget that. You are the only man on the planet for me, I am sure of it.” “Baby, I don’t ever plan on it.”</p><p>He kisses her softly and gets up to head to the bathroom. Tyler rolls over back onto her back, pulling the comforter up close to her neck and sighing with pleasure. She feels like she is living a dream. She is in the Bahamas, alone, with the hottest man on the planet. She can hear the sound of Ethan’s pee echoing through the room, and laughs to herself. Ethan’s (now their) bedroom at the townhouse doesn’t have a bathroom door, because he always assumed that he would be the only one living there, and he liked the open flow of the room that couldn’t be achieved with a door in the way. The thought of another adult human living with him full-time made Ethan shudder with fear, and a little bit of disgust. Until Tyler came along. It freaked him out at first when Tyler would stay the night, because he very much likes his privacy. He used to make her go to the living room anytime he had to use the bathroom, even for just a quick pee. Or he would go out of his way to walk to the guest bathroom. But eventually, one day, it didn’t matter to him anymore. Tyler now finds herself absentmindedly going in the bathroom to brush her teeth while he’s using the toilet, and vice versa. They are that comfortable with each other. There is no other living being on Planet Earth that Ethan Jonah Ramsey would allow this to happen with. In any lifetime. Not one.</p><p>The toilet flushes, and Ethan heads over to the fully stocked mini bar to pour himself a scotch. “Want anything? This bartender delivers naked, and right to bed.” He chuckles at himself.</p><p>Tyler stares at him and makes a face, one that Ethan knows all too well. “Well, if you’re serving ‘em up, I will take a margarita, sir.” She winks at him.</p><p>He pours both of the drinks and delivers them back to bed. Ethan smiles at Tyler and hands her her drink. He climbs under the covers and takes one sip of his scotch, closing his eyes and soaking it in. He sets it on the nightstand and pulls Tyler close to him, her warmth from being snug under the comforter radiating over his body.</p><p>She takes a few sips of her margarita and sets it on her nightstand. “Very good drink, Mr. Bartender,” Tyler observes.</p><p>“Thank you. Margaritas aren’t even my specialty, so that says a lot.”</p><p>“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Ethan pretends to think for a second. “Hmm. Well, we could go down to our private beach and catch some rays, we could go for a long walk on the beach, we could get in the jacuzzi, we could take a shower together, we could do more of what we just did…it’s really up in the air. Though I’m leaning towards all of the above.”</p><p>Tyler presses herself closer to Ethan, exhaustion from the day of traveling setting in. So comforting, familiar, so much like home. His naked body feels so comforting against hers, as it always does. “I vote for all of the above too.” Tyler sleepily says.</p><p>Ethan can hear the exhaustion on her voice. He lays there so she can fall asleep on him, her favorite way to sleep. “Goodnight, my sweet Tyler,” he whispers and kisses the top of her head. They both peacefully drift asleep, their bodies entangled, their drinks going bad on the nightstand.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Proposal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ethan finally proposes to Tyler at her favorite place in the world - the beach.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy this work :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Saturday morning sunlight pours into their suite from the wall of windows, the sun reflecting off of the clear, aqua-blue water. It gently wakes Ethan from his slumber. They never got around to closing the curtains the night before.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He sleepily stretches his arms and rolls over to look at Tyler. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She is still peacefully asleep, laying on her back with the comforter up right below her neck. He smiles when he sees her. As long as Ethan has been with her, that has been her preferred sleeping position. He stares at her, admiration clear in his blue eyes. <br/></span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Quietly, he scoots over towards her, and carefully strokes the curls next to her face. Every morning, Ethan often wonders how in the world he got so lucky, to have this perfect woman in his bed. This woman who completes him, in more ways than one. This woman who, ten years his junior, still shares the same ambitions and life goals. He made it perfectly clear to her early on that he did not particularly want a family; she made it clear right back to him that she did not either. This greatly surprised Ethan, seeing as Tyler is only 28 years old. She could have plenty of time to change her mind. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not a chance,” she told him the day he broke the news that he just assumed would shatter their relationship. Her mouth was half full of chips and guacamole as she said this. Ethan found this very endearing. Only Tyler.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I have too many goals I would like to achieve in my career. I’m still young, so I have time to achieve all of them. I love babies, but not so much when they get to be children. It’s not worth it to me. Steve and Anneliese are not very happy with my decision, but they have Terah’s twins to call their grandsons. So they can leave me out of the equation.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan always wondered why she called her parents by their first names when talking about them. He found it very amusing. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">These types of sweet and sentimental things always came to mind when he would look at her in the mornings. He only gets to savor the moment on some weekends, rare days off from the hospital, or on occasions such as this.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Rarely did Tyler ever wake before he did. He always set his alarm for 5:30 every morning. Wake, gym, shower, breakfast, head to work. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Every. Morning. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was a creature of habit; Tyler, not so much. She would get up at 6:30 at the very earliest, roll out of bed and do her hair and makeup last minute, rarely taking the time to make breakfast at home. Their morning temperaments also differed drastically; this made for some very interesting rides to work.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good morning, my sweet sweet Tyler,” he whispers as he continued to stroke her hair. He gently kisses her forehead, careful not to wake her. She deserves all the sleep she wants, in Ethan’s eyes. More accurately, she deserves whatever the hell she wants, in Ethan’s eyes. His mind now moves to tomorrow evening, where he plans to propose to her at The Golden Seabiscuit, a local restaurant/bar with the highest Yelp reviews and the best beachfront view that he could find. Anxious thoughts about the proposal begin to enter his mind. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s2"><em>I hope I make tomorrow everything you have dreamed of, Tyler. You are my whole world. No other woman has even come close to making me feel what I feel with you. I hope that you will be proud to call me your husband. I know that calling you my wife will be the biggest honor of my life. I hope that tomorrow fills you with so much joy, and that you remem -</em> - </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His thoughts are interrupted by Tyler slowly awakening from her slumber. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sleepily opens her eyes. “Why didn’t we close the curtains last night? Damn sunlight.” She lets out a few more profanities in disgust.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler is not a joy to be around most mornings. Ethan was annoyed by this at the beginning of their relationship, but he has learned to love it about her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good morning to you, too,” he says cheerfully. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler gets up begrudgingly and walks to the bathroom, giving him the side eye. Ethan laughs, knowing that his morning cheerfulness gets under her skin more often than not. He sits up in bed, and checks his phone for any urgent updates from the hospital. Nothing, thank goodness. That was the last thing that he wanted to think about, especially this weekend. He looks further down his list of mindless notifications (news and ESPN, but only for golf and baseball) and finds a text from his mother, Louise: “Hope you two are having a good time. Love you!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan looks at his phone, a wistful look coming over his face. A year ago, this text would have angered him. He would be mad that she was trying to “pry her way back into his life”, as he so often would complain before. Today, Ethan is so very glad he patched his relationship with his troubled mother. This is another reason he loves Tyler - she encouraged him to give Louise a second chance, much to his own chagrin. A year after going into rehab, she is doing better than ever - and she even moved back in with Alan. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He starts typing a very Ethan-Like response - short and to the point. “We are. Very nice accommodations and view. Love you, mom.” He puts his phone back on the bedside table. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler returns from the bathroom and crawls right back into bed. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re going back to sleep?” Ethan asks, raising an eyebrow at her.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes. Go away.” She pulls the covers over her head.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Louise asked how our trip has been so far.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler peeks out from under the puffy white comforter, her signature red hair an untamed mess. “Yeah?” She smiles a sleepy smile. “That’s great. Tell her I said hello.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Silence falls between them. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>“You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever officially thanked you for pushing me to help her get into rehab and give her a second chance. I acted like a real asshole, yet another instance where you took it and didn’t have to. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler now brings her whole head out from the comforter. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wow, this weekend has barely started, and it’s basically been equal part sex, equal part Ethan Ramsey Deep Dark Secret Confession Hour,” she quipped. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan knows full well why this is happening. It’s because of the three-carat rock sitting in its little box, buried carefully between 2 shirts in his suitcase. It’s because he is, presumably, going to have a fiancé by the end of the day tomorrow. A fiancé that he doesn’t know how in the world he got so lucky to have.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2">*******************</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After dinner, Ethan suggests they take a walk on the beach. </span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">This is it, Ramsey. Get it together. Just be yourself.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Grabbing Tyler’s lightly sunburned hand, they head off towards the sand, bellies full of a delicious meal and cocktails from The Golden Seabiscuit. Tyler had Crab Bisque and Oysters - along with probably way too much bread, just as Ethan had predicted. Ethan had salmon with roasted asparagus and potatoes. He also indulged in some bread, thought not as much as Tyler did. She had a fruity cocktail, he a White Russian.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan made sure to time dinner where it would be over right around sunset. He did a good job, judging on the changing color of the sky.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The old Ethan Ramsey would have never put this much thought into a proposal, much less even considered ever proposing to a woman at all. He thought he was always meant to be alone, the occasional woman in his bed from Donahue’s to satisfy him only when he felt like it, nothing meaningful. He usually would kick them out after sex, he didn’t really care much for strangers knowing personal details about him, and he definitely liked his bed to himself for sleeping. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Looking back, dating Harper was even stretching it. When he thinks about what could have been with her if they’d kept dating, he gets a queasy feeling in his stomach. He wouldn’t last 3 days living with her full-time.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But with Tyler, he found himself doing everything he could to make this proposal absolutely perfect. He did hours of research to find the best restaurant on the island. Ethan wanted Tyler to be 100% surprised about every detail of the evening. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They walk hand in hand, both barefoot, through the damp sand. The waves crash over their feet every few seconds as they come to shore and pull back out to sea. Tyler stops and turns over to Ethan, smiling that smile that he loves so much. Her voluminous red curls are unintentionally yet sexily wind-tossed, her perfect bare cheeks are red from the same breezy wind, and her flowy maxi dress is also blowing with the light sea breeze. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan is in awe.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thank you for the most amazing weekend,” she says softly while still smiling. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan smiles back, his smile where the rough corners of his eyes crinkle and all of his perfectly straight teeth show, and gently cups his hands around her sunburnt cheeks. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">This is it. This is the moment you have been waiting for. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">“</span>
  <span class="s1">Tyler, I should be thanking you. You have no idea what this weekend did for me. I think I needed a break from the hospital more than I realized. Mentally, this trip has refreshed me, physically, rejuvenated my tired bones, emotionally nourished me,” He pauses and gives a sly smile. “And Sexually, well, it has more than satisfied me,” he adds with a chuckle.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler laughs, pulls back from his grip and playfully shoves him closer to the water. He sticks his hand in his pocket, nervously grasping the ring box. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re such a child,” she complains as she lightly splashes water on him. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan twists the box around in his clenched, and now sweaty, palm. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">
    <em>Just do it, Ethan. You know exactly what you want to say.</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looks around, to see if anyone else is near. One couple is taking sunset engagement photos a few yards down, another couple is walking the opposite direction. The only people that would notice would be the engaged couple, or people looking down from the restaurant up on the bank.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do you know how much I love you, Rookie?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler smiles that smile and retorts, “Hmm, I don’t think you’ve told me recently, Dr. Ramsey. And by recently, I mean yesterday. Why don’t you remind me?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan swallows hard and meets her gaze intently, in a good-nervous way, knowing what he’s about to do. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tyler, when I saw your file come across my desk three years ago, and I petitioned hard to get you an internship at Edenbrook, I was focused purely on your academic record and the massive amount of potential that I saw in you. I didn’t even pay attention to your ID photo from Wash U that was attached. Just like every year, there was one file that stuck out to me. Sometimes it was a guy, sometimes a girl. I never even gave it a second thought. That year it happened to be you.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler is looking intently back at him, still smiling. Her hands are in her pockets and she’s standing with her legs crossed, kind of like an innocent little girl. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She still doesn’t show any indication that she knows what’s coming. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Little did I know, the face on that old ID picture would come to mean so much to me. At first, you annoyed me like most eager-eyed interns do. But as I got to know you, you made me start thinking things that I never thought I would. I tried to tell myself that this wasn’t happening, but very clearly it was. I began to look for you purposefully around the hospital. At Donahue’s. When I would see you turn a corner, or walk past me in the hallway, or seated at a table with your friends at the bar, my heart would skip a beat and I would get this weird feeling in my throat. Of course, I ignored it like it was nothing, but who was I kidding?</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then I asked you to accompany me to Miami for the conference, not only because I thought you were the best intern, but because I secretly wanted to spend time with you in a different environment. I told myself otherwise, over and over again. And then we shared that kiss, on the balcony of the hotel. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">From then on, I was under your spell.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">You gradually softened my very rough edges, you brought a splash of optimism into my life, which I very desperately needed but didn’t even realize it nor if I did, did I want to admit, you showed me there’s more to life than just being a doctor and going home to an empty townhouse every night.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler’s gaze has softened, eyes still locked on his. She’s sensing something is up, but is letting him talk. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You made me fall in love with you. As you well remember, and as I very much regret still to this day, I vehemently denied this on a number of occasions. Pushing you away, bringing you back, rinse and repeat. I was just denying the inevitable: that you were, and are, different than any other woman in this universe. Then, when I almost lost you to that homicidal poisoning maniac, it finally sunk into my stubborn psyche: you are the one and only woman for me. I am as sure of this as the sun will rise.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan takes a deep breath, still unsure of how the hell he has become the proposing type, and approaches Tyler to grab her hand.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tyler, I love you more than life itself. This past year has been nothing more than a dream. I don’t want to spend another second of my life without you.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler, noticing that Ethan’s right hand has been in his pocket this whole time, has caught on to what is happening. Her eyes begin to well up with happy tears.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan smiles back, his own eyes beginning to water, and lowers himself onto one knee in the sand. He pulls the box out of his pocket. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tyler Auburn Bracken, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Those are words that he never dreamed would ever come out of his mouth.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He then opens the box, revealing the very impressively sized 3-carat rock. It catches the light of the sunset just right, and sparkles.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler’s eyes widen at the sight of the ring, and she drops to her knees in the sand, her face going down into her hands and her long red hair draping over. She begins to sob. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Not in a sad way. In the most blissful of ways.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She had never been happier in her 28 years of existence than she was in that moment. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Looking up from her hands, she wipes her eyes and looks admirably up at Ethan, still there on his knees with the ring box open. His own eyes are also red from crying. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ethan Jonah Ramsey, of COURSE I will marry you!” she practically squeals, wiping stray tears from her cheeks with her wrists. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan gingerly grabs her left hand, and places the ring there. He cups her face and kisses her softly. “Thank God,” he says softly, burying his face in his hair, closing his eyes to soak in this most magical of moments. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler pulls back and looks back and forth from the ring to Ethan’s face, a look of pure awe all over her delicate face.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">
    <em>How is this real? Does someone need to pinch me?? I’m Ethan’s freaking Ramsey’s fiancé!! He chose ME! I didn’t think he would ever choose to be with ANYONE, let alone me! I could die and go to heaven right now. </em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She somehow manages to get back onto her feet, and leaps into his arms.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan takes her, holds her tighter than he ever has before, and they spin around in a circle in the sand, the refreshing sea breeze seemingly pushing them on. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was so cliche, but he didn’t care. Neither did Tyler.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan Ramsey, uptight bachelor extraordinaire, and arguably the most world’s most cynical person regarding love, and more specifically marriage, now has a fiancé. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler Bracken, the wide-eyed redhead from the Midwest who spent her childhood dreaming about her future husband and her wedding, finally has the fiancé that she had always imagined and hoped, and even prayed, for. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Two very different perspectives, but it didn’t matter. It was the most perfect moment of both of their lives. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan gently puts Tyler back down in the sand. She looks up at him, still smiling. In addition to their full bellies, they now both had hearts that were even more full. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Let’s go back to the house. I have a few ideas on how how we can spend the rest of our last night here.” He has a mischievous glean in his eye. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With that, Tyler grabs his hand and they walk back to the boardwalk. The restaurant that they ate at was only a short walk away from their house, another reason that Ethan chose it. He is a notorious fan of all things simple. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After the short walk, they arrive at the doorstep of their private hut.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler immediately walks over to the bed, almost in a daze, sits down quietly and just stares at her ring. “Holy shit, this ring is huge,” she mumbles to herself. “How much did he drop for this?” She secretly wanted to know, but she also knew this was really none of her business. Moving her hand around in the light, she catches all the many facets of the diamond. It was a large oval diamond, with smaller diamonds circling all around. The infinity band was also covered in small diamonds.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was easily the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was half surprised that Ethan picked something so gorgeous out all by himself. Or did he? He surely wouldn’t have reached out to Terah - they’ve never even officially met in person! If anyone, he probably asked Sienna.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did you enjoy your dinner?” Ethan calls from the bathroom, interrupting her thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Absolutely. But not as much as I enjoyed the dessert,” Tyler quips, the large smile still plastered on her face.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, is that so?” He turns on the faucet, the sound of running water filling the small house. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She waits for him to return from the bathroom before grilling him about the ring.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He returns a few minutes later, wearing nothing but boxers, his perfectly chiseled upper body standing right in front of her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tyler’s eyes flash with desire, causing her to forget all about the ring. “Oh, hello there handsome fiancé,” she admires, emphasizing the word fiancé.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ethan smiles slyly and crawls onto the bed with her.They spend the rest of the night tangled in the sheets, sharing kisses and much more. They were both the happiest they’ve ever been. </span>
</p>
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